Australian government, spy chiefs secretly urge UK to ban Huawei

The Australian government and senior intelligence officials have urged Britain to ban Chinese technology giant Huawei from a role in building new ultra-fast mobile networks, arguing the western alliance of intelligence-sharing partners should have a consistent position.

Multiple well-placed sources confirmed Australian officials have taken action on several fronts to impress on their British counterparts the drawbacks of having risky telecommunications vendors providing equipment for 5G networks that will power critical future technologies.

Huawei is one of the biggest provides of telco equipment in the UK.Credit:Bloomberg

The sources made it clear that the representations were made acknowledging that the decision was entirely Britain's to make.

High Commissioner to London George Brandis appeared last month before Britain's high-powered and secretive Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament. Sources familiar with the private meeting said he made the case that it was better for the so-called "Five Eyes" group of intelligence sharing nations to adopt a united front.

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Other senior intelligence officials have, during trips to Britain, had high-level meetings with counterparts where Australia's position has been clearly put.

Senior figures including Office of National Intelligence deputy head Andrew Shearer and recently retired Australian Cyber Security Centre head Alastair MacGibbon have discussed the issue repeatedly with British counterparts in the past year, sources said.

The risks in telecommunications have been described as a "top tier" subject of security discussions.

Mr Brandis, who was previously the attorney-general, presented Australia's position to the influential British parliamentary committee alongside an official from electronic spy agency, the Australian Signals Directorate.

Not long after the appearance, the chairman of the committee, Conservative MP Dominic Grieve, wrote an opinion article in The Telegraph warning that Australia likely shared the concerns of the US about the security of shared intelligence if Britain were to use Huawei equipment.

An Australian government spokesman said the rules around the 5G build was "a sovereign decision for the UK, as it was for Australia".

Officials have also been trying to understand the British position, so that Australia can weigh up any effects that a British 5G network with Chinese equipment would have on Australia.

Telecommunications industry sources believe the moves from the Australian agencies amount to trying to strong-arm the British government, with British mobile providers particularly frustrated by the actions of the Australian representatives as a ban could amount to "billions of dollars" in extra costs for network roll outs.

They said there had been multiple visits to Britain by Mr Shearer in particular, a former national security adviser to John Howard and Tony Abbott, who is regarded as hawkish on China.

We've made representations to the UK on why our stance was taken ... it's been respectful.

Source

"The UK government did not want them [Britain] to be a 5G laggard," one telco source said, explaining British mobile providers had warned the government that without Huawei there could be delays and rising costs.

However, sources with close knowledge of the discussions said Australia had been "careful not to affront anyone".

"We've made representations to the UK on why our stance was taken ... it's been respectful. It's a bit like a fight at a family lunch where people might go home sore but they quickly realise blood is thicker than water," one source said.

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Another said: "Australia feels that it's in its interests that its close partners are aligned on this issue."

A third source dismissed any suggestion Australia was lobbying on the issue and said this was a "sovereign" decision for Britain.

The diplomatically sensitive campaign comes at a time when Britain is going through political upheaval with Prime Minister Theresa May resigning over the Brexit stalemate.

Britain is to decide if it will allow limited use of Huawei equipment, though a leak in April revealed the government was considering allowing the company to work on "non-core" areas of its network.

The US has a broad ban on Huawei and has pressured on Britain to follow suit. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned last month that the US might not be able to share all of its intelligence with Britain if it couldn't trust its network, adding that "this is just what China wants - to divide western alliances".

US President Donald Trump is expected to issue a similar warning this week when he visits Britain.

It is understood Australia has not issued any similar warning, though it does harbour some concerns about the safety of shared intelligence.

British telcos have started their 5G roll out with Huawei's involvement with British Telecom Group's EE the first UK provider to launch a commercial network with the Chinese giant on Friday. Huawei was kept out of the sensitive core - considered the brain of the network - but included in other parts of the build.